Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

Eugenio Suarez made history on Sunday, becoming just the 19th player ever to hit four home runs in the same game -- and at age 33, the oldest ever to accomplish that feat... The MLB home run leader with 10 so far in '25, the Diamondbacks 3rd baseman was with the Reds when I snapped these photos back in 2019. Home runs are our common thread -- Marlins rookie catcher   Augustin Ramirez  smacked a pair of them on Sunday;  he's off to a fast start with 9 hits in his first 19 at bats for the Miami (including three home runs) .  The power hitting catcher was with AA Somerset when I first saw him in 2023 -- he was traded to Miami at last year's deadline for Jazz Chisholm Jr. The Yankees have produced a bumper crop of good hitting catchers lately; besides Ramirez, Austin Wells graduated to the Bronx last summer where he was the runner up for American League Rookie of the Year; Ben Rice has filled in capably for Giancarlo Stanton as the Yankees DH.  And onetime indy bal...

...you share it with Luis Cessa .  The Mexican reliever spent parts of six seasons (2016-'21)  with the Yankees, where he was the first player ever to wear #85.   And there's an even bigger Yankee birthday on Saturday (the 26th) -- belonging to the player with the biggest number on the field... Aaron Judge   has been making history since the day he arrived in the Bronx -- when he and Tyler Austin homered in their first big league at-bats -- in back-to-back plate appearances. That’s still the only time that’s ever been done in almost 150 years of MLB history    Since then, he's reset the American League single season home run record, won the 2017 Rookie of the Year and a pair of MVP titles.  Already having passed 320 home runs, he's on his way -- as long as he stays healthy -- to ranking with the franchise's greatest names.  When he extended his Yankees deal after testing free agency in the winter of 2023, he was named team Captain and elevate...

Winding it back a decade -- it's April 23rd, 2015 as the Phillies host the Marlins at Citizens Bank Park.  Plenty of laughs thanks to the Phanatic, but otherwise, a tough day for the Phils.  Four years after winning their fifth consecutive NL East title, the roster has turned over, the big stars such as Utley, Howard, Hamels and Rollins are gone and the hoped-for infusion of new blood hasn't worked. There's a different face in the home dugout: Ryne Sandberg is now the manager.  But the Hall of Fame player's experience hasn't rubbed off on his troops .  16 games into the young season, they're struggling at 5-11.  And even the Marlins aren't going to make it easy on this day. I'd forgotten that Ichiro had played for Miami.  Had you? While his peak days in Seattle (and then the Yankees) were behind him, he still appeared in 153 games that year for the Marlins -- his first of three seasons in "the Sun and Fun capital." Look who else was calling Mi...

  ...you share it with one of the greatest pure hitters of the 21st century, Miguel Cabrera .  A .301 hitter (with a .901 OPS) over 21 seasons with the Marlins and Tigers, this nine-time all star won back-to-back MVP awards with Detroit in 2012 and '13. "Miggy" shares April 18th with longtime big league outfielders Jim Eisenreich  and Billy Butler ; Doug Flynn , best remembered for his four-and-a-half year run as Mets infielder... and on the other side of New York, this 1980s Yankee hurler: Dennis Rasmussen , at 6-foot-7 was among the tallest Yankee pitchers ever.  The lefthander spent four years in the Bronx, highlighted by an 18-win season on the 1986 club led by Mattingly, Winfield and Henderson.  But that was the high mark of a 12-season career that also included stops with the Padres, Royals, Reds and Cubs.  

Do you remember " Dandy ," as in Yankee Doodle Dandy?  Seeking to jump on the bandwagon led by the Phillie Phanatic and San Diego Chicken, the Yanks went to the same design team that created the Phanatic to see if the lovable furry thing might be what we'd currently consider a "brand extension."   Dandy debuted at the Stadium in July 1979.  Sporting pinstripes and a walrus-like mustache that resembled that of Captain Thurman Munson, the character was pulled after Munson's plane crash death weeks later.  Even when it was brought back, Dandy never cavorted on the field as the Phanatic does -- or came up with a gimmick fans to bond with fans.  Instead, it was confined to corridors and off-field areas, which I where I snapped this at a Yankees/Orioles game in September 1981. Unsure of how to fit a mascot in with the club's image -- and uncomfortable at the facial resemblance to Munson -- the concept never quite worked and was dropped after the 1981 season....

...you share it with Mark Teixeira .  The power-hitting 1st baseman smacked 409 homers while starring mainly for the Yankees and Rangers from 2003- 2016.   His first New York season was his best, as he homered 39 times, drove in 122 runs and was runner up for the American League MVP as the Yankees won their most recent World Series.  Surprisingly, he fell off the Hall of Fame ballot after pulling just 1.5% of the vote in 2022. We've also got a more recent Yankee who celebrates on Saturday the 12th.  Relief pitcher Dennis Santana relieved in 23 games for the 2024 Yanks; they saw him again the first weekend of April working out of the Pirates bullpen.  

The minor league season began on a very chilly note here in the Northeast.  Yankees AAA infielder Andrew Velazquez was masked up when Scranton Wilkes-Barre visited Syracuse last Wednesday -- where the thermometer barely broke 40.  His Mets counterpart Luis de los Santos  (who appeared in 13 games last season for the Blue Jays) was even more bundled up -- only his eyes glance out from behind the layers. Jett Williams , the Mets 2022 1st round draft pick, is "repeating" AA ball this year.  After missing most of the '24 season with a hand injury, the 2nd baseman-center fielder began this year year healthy -- and in a Binghamton Rumble Ponies uniform. (Below:) While we're talking Binghamton,  Jake Mangum , who played there in '22, has become one of this year's Cinderella stories.  The 29 year-old had a big Grapefruit League campaign and became a surprise addition to the Rays roster, filling in for Josh Lowe. In his first six big league games, he's hit .435 --...

  ...you share it with  Ronny Mauricio .  Long touted as the Mets most talented infield prospect, he made his MLB debut in 2023, but has been sidelined since the winter of 2024 by a serious knee injury.  Tall and lanky, he impressed with 20 or more home runs in '21, '22 and '23 -- adding 20 more stolen bases his last two years.  Said to be within a month of returning to minor league action, he could provide a boost to the Mets later this year, or help bring back pitching depth in a possible trade. Mauricio shares his birthday with one of the most revered names in Mets franchise history: Gil Hodges, beloved 1st baseman of the Dodgers "Boys of Summer, who made the borough his home -- even after the franchise moved to LA -- then helped re-launch National League ball with the original 1962 Mets.  He hit the expansion franchise's first home run -- one of the 369 in his Cooperstown-bound career.  A no-nonsense ex-Marine, he retired to become manager of the ...

Monday's Phillies home opener was a fun one to catch on TV -- so I had to tap my photo archive to spotlight the change-makers...  What began as a pitching duel between the Rockies' German Marquez and the Phils Cristofer Sanchez turned in a different direction during the bottom of the 7th -- when, with two outs and two on, supersub  Edmundo Sosa doubled in the tying and go-ahead runs.  (This is how Sosa looked last May 18th, when he was again filling for Trey Turner at shortstop.) Next to hit: DH Kyle Schwarber who sealed the victory with a two-run home run off the batter's eye beyond center fielder.  It was his third bomb of the young season!  Despite playing three of their first tour games on the road, the Phillies are off to a fast start at 3-1. as they look to repeat as NL East champs.